I needed this today! I'm on day 21 and for the last day and a half it seems that's all I've thought about is cigarettes. I know it's
disgusting and I don't really want one but I can't seem to get the thought out of my head! I've done a couple things that I haven't done in
this quit yet and that's probably what has given me the feeling that I should be smoking a cigarette. The 4 mile walk I did today helped fight the urge,
and once again reading here helped. I'm sure tomorrow will be better and I made it through one more day smoke free!

Rita - Free and Healing for Twenty One Days and 48 Minutes, while extending my life expectancy 1 Day and 16 Hours, by avoiding the use of 484 nicotine
delivery devices that would have cost me $96.84.

Sometimes you will encounter a person who says they are constantly thinking about smoking or sometimes you yourself feel that you fit into this category of
individual. Generally when a person says they are constantly thinking about smoking, people around them tries to share the advice to think about something
else. First, there is an inaccuracy about what the ex-smoker is saying. He or she is not constantly thinking about smoking, rather, he or she is fixating on
"one cigarette" or "one puff." It's hard to think about something else because one puff seems like such a wonderful concept. They are
often reminiscing about one of the best cigarettes, or more accurately, about the sensation around one of the best fixes they ever had. It may be one the
smoked 20 years earlier but that is the one they are focused on.

So what about thinking about something else? Well, it's hard to think of something else that can deliver such pleasure as this magic memory. Even if they
successfully think of something else and overcome that urge, they walk away from the moment with a sense of longing or sadness with what they have just been
deprived of again.

So, what is an ex-smoker to do? Change the tactic. Instead of trying (often unsuccessfully) of something else, acknowledge the desire. Don't tell
yourself you don't want one, you do and you know it. But remember there is a catch. To take the one you have to have all the others with it. And with the
others, you have to take all the problems that go with "them." The smell, the expense, the embarrassment, social ostracization, the total loss of
control, and the health implications. The health effects are the most serious of the implications considering they lead to slowly being crippled then death.

This is what to focus on when the thought of one creeps into consciousness, the package deal of smoking. Think about the hundreds of cigarettes that have to
go with that first one weekly. Think about the thousands that go with that first one every year, or the hundreds of thousands that will go with it until it
kills you. These are not exaggerated numbers. Do the math yourself; calculate how much you smoked in your lifetime and figure out how many more will be
consumed if you didn't quit.

I am not saying to look at cigarettes negatively, just look at them exactly as they really were. If you pull the whole spectrum of smoking into focus, you
will be able to walk away from the "urge" with the attitude that you are glad you are not doing that anymore. You won't feel deprived you will
feel grateful. The more you remember smoking the less you will think about a cigarette. In a sense forcing yourself to remember will help you forget. Not
forget smoking, but the fantasy, the appeal of a nicotine fix. A nicotine fix was not worth smoking for while you were a smoker, you can bet it is not worth
it as an ex-smoker with freedom to lose now as well as all the other implications that always went with smoking.

In summing up, I will say that not smoking will never seem as good as the fantasy of smoking. But smoking was never that good either. The fantasy is
"one" with no side effects, and no loss of control. The reality though is a dirty, disgusting, and deadly addiction. See them for what they are and
you will stop wanting them as much.

Again, it can't be said too often, you are fighting for your health and your life. To win this fight is no more complicated than just keeping your
commitment enforced to never take another puff!

This is exactley why I love this web site. Gong on almost three weeks smoke free here and I am still thinking alot about smoking. I thought I was crazy, so
I come to this site and here you you all are. Thanks for helping everyone.

As an aside I have recomended this web site to many people and two well, one and a half have quit!! I am trying to help the 1/2. I just threw her cigs away
for her SO incase you are reading go Sheri..NTAP

Thank you. I too SO needed to read this post. I will be watching the video that was posted as well.

I have been quit for 1 Week, 21 hours, 10 minutes and 1 second (7 days). I have saved $30.33 by not smoking 157 cigarettes. I have saved 13 hours and 5
minutes of my life. My Quit Date: 1/22/2007 6:45 AM

Joel,
OUCH!!!! This is so true. I put my rollerblades on, I want a smoke. I'm cleaning the house when the kids are gone, I want a smoke. I will never take
another puff. Period. I will find another way to deal with life, but it will not be nicotine!
34 days, and 7 grateful kids later.

That is an awsome way of looking at the situation and so true. I am almost 1 year to the day into this quit (my last quit ever). Lately I have endured maybe
2 30 second "urges" to smoke. Once when I had company from out of town and about half of us were smokers. I actually felt left out for a second. It
was only a second after all. When I think about the amount of time I spent wishing I could quit in the first place...it's a no brainer. I can handle 30
seconds of loss, compared to a lifetime!

Today was an especially hard one for me. I really really really thought I was going to smoke. Still dealing with the peaks and valleys of mood swings. I
know from past experience that if I smoke, my mood will improve. But am I going to throw this quit away, like I have all my others? Not on your life. Not
on MY life. I've learned too much here to hopefully ever smoke again. Like they say in the 12 Step meetings, "Ain't nuthin' worse than a
head full of AA and a belly full of beer." So I breathed deep, thought about getting home to my computer and the boards. And how if I DID smoke, I
would not be allowed back here. I would be honest. And I do NOT want to ever NOT be able to come here to this group. No way. Tomorrow will be a better
day. Suzi 1M 1W 5D

It will get better. I never-ever want to go back to smoking nicotine. Its not COOL, its not FUN, its NOTgoing to feel good, it will make usSICK. Fixating on a cigarette is a good one too. Here's a nice cup of tea for you....., you did good, you took a deep breathe and moved on....way to go girl......

I haven't been to this site in a long time but it seems right to visit once in a while. This helped me start a new life over 1 and 1/2 years ago. May
21, 2006 was the exact date. I guess I never will forget that date. It has been a wonderful journey and it does just get better and better. I still
have a dream now and then about smoking but that is all. I now go many days without even remembering that I smoked. I smoked for more than 42 years and
I am so thankful that I found this site and found freedom. I really do have to say I feel "free". Everywhere I go, I have so much fun and I
don't have to keep leaving to get my fix. I can relax and enjoy everyone's company. I was about the last in my entire group of friends and
family to remain smoking. I have just two friends now who have not quit, but I am working on them.

Keep focused, whether it is hours into a quit or decades into a quit. It was a good decision to quit, maybe the most important decision you have made in
your life as far as quality and length of your life goes. To keep the decision alive and continue to reap the benefit, always remember, Never Take Another
Puff!